Automated annotation system for electronic logging devices

ABSTRACT

An automated annotation system to automatically designate annotations to records within a report, which may perform operations that include: designating an annotation to a location, the annotation comprising a text string; identifying a record of the location within a report; selecting the annotation based on the record of the location within the report; and applying the text string of the annotation to the record within the report, according to certain example embodiments.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally the field ofcommunication technology and, more particularly, but not by way oflimitation, to a system to automate annotations of data objects within adatabase.

BACKGROUND

An Electronic Logging Device (ELD) is electronic hardware that isattached to commercial motor vehicles to record driving hours. Thedriving hours of commercial drivers (i.e., truck and bus drivers) aretypically regulated by a set of rules. An ELD monitors a vehicle tocapture data on whether the vehicle is moving, whether the engine isrunning, miles driven, and duration of engine operation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

To easily identify the discussion of any particular element or act, themost significant digit or digits in a reference number refer to thefigure number in which that element is first introduced.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example system for exchanging data(e.g., sensor data and associated content) over a network in accordancewith some embodiments, wherein the system includes an annotation system.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating various modules of an annotationsystem, according to certain example embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart depicting a method of automatically selecting anannotation to assign to a record, according to certain exampleembodiments.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart depicting a method of automatically selecting anannotation to assign to a record, according to certain exampleembodiments

FIG. 5 is a flowchart depicting a method of generating a record of areport, according to certain example embodiments.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart depicting a method of designating an annotation toa location, according to certain example embodiments.

FIG. 7 is an interface diagram depicting a graphical user interface(GUI) presented by an automatic annotation system, according to certainexample embodiments.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating components of a machine,according to some example embodiments, able to read instructions from amachine-readable medium (e.g., a machine-readable storage medium) andperform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As discussed above, an ELD monitors a vehicle to capture data on whetherthe vehicle is moving, whether the engine is running, miles driven, andduration of engine operation. According to certain regulations, lawenforcement officers may review the tracked information from an ELD by aprinted report which must be generated by an administrator of an ELD.The creation of such reports is often time consuming and tedious, asthere is often a need to apply notes or annotation to data depicted bythe tracked data, in order to prove compliance with governing rules.Accordingly, a system to automatically apply annotations to records,including unassigned records, within a report are discussed herein.

Example embodiments described herein relate to an automated annotationsystem to automatically designate annotations to records within areport, which may perform operations that include: designating anannotation to a location, the annotation comprising a text string;identifying a record of the location within a report; selecting theannotation based on the record of the location within the report; andapplying the text string of the annotation to the record within thereport, according to certain example embodiments.

In some example embodiments, the record of the location within thereport may be associated with an identifier that identifies a vehicle,or a client device which may correspond with the vehicle. For example, avehicle may be equipped with a client device which tracks vehicleinformation that includes location information, vehicle diagnosticsinformation, driving duration, when the vehicle is keyed on or off, aswell as how long the vehicle has been driving. Accordingly, in certainembodiments, a user of the automated annotation system may provide aninput that comprises a selection of the identifier associated with therecord within the report. Responsive to receiving the input thatincludes the selection of the identifier, the automated annotationsystem may access a repository to generate the report, in order to causedisplay of a presentation of the report that includes the record.

The report may for example comprise a spreadsheet, or data table, thatcomprises a listing of locations or driving segments associated with avehicle which may be identified by a vehicle identifier. According tocertain embodiments, a driving segment may be defined as a corridor thatconnects one or more locations, such as a starting location and adestination location. The report generated by the automated annotationsystem may therefore include a listing of driving segments associatedwith a vehicle, along with other information that includes: date; time;engine hours; driving time; vehicle miles; driver identifier; location;as well as a field for notes and annotations which may be input manuallyor automatically based on the methods discussed herein. For example, thereport may comprise a plurality of records, wherein each recordcorresponds with a distinct driving segment. Accordingly, a user of theautomated annotation system may designate an annotation to a location,or a specific driving segment, such that responsive to identifying arecord of the location or driving segment within a report, the automatedannotation system may apply the annotation to the record.

In some embodiments, designation of an annotation to a location ordriving segment may include designating the annotation to a geo-fencethat encompasses some or all of the location or driving segment. Forexample, the automated annotation system may generate and cause displayof a GUI that comprises a presentation of a map image that depicts ageographic area. The user of the automated annotation system may provideinputs that define a boundary that encompasses a location, or portionsof a driving segment within the map image, for example by selecting aset of points, or by drawing a closed shape upon the map image. Theautomated annotation system may generate a geo-fence based on theboundary defined by the inputs. Accordingly, the user of the automatedannotation system may designate an annotation to the geo-fence byproviding an input that includes a text string.

Responsive to detecting a vehicle (or client device equipped within avehicle) within the boundary of the geo-fence, or identifying a drivingsegment of the vehicle within the geo-fence, the automated annotationsystem may generate a record to be added to a report associated with anidentifier of the vehicle, wherein the record include the annotationdesignated to the geo-fence.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example system 100 forautomatically applying annotations to a record within a report, based oncertain example embodiments. The system 100 includes one or more clientdevices 122 that host a number of applications including a clientapplication 114.

Accordingly, each client application 114 is able to communicate andexchange data with another client application 114 and with the serverapplication 114 executed at the server system 108 via the network 106.The data exchanged between client applications 114, and between a clientapplication 114 and the server system 108, includes functions (e.g.,commands to invoke functions) as well as payload data (e.g., text,audio, video or other multimedia data).

The server system 108 provides server-side functionality via the network106 to a particular client application 114, and in some embodiments tothe sensor device(s) 102 and the system gateway 104. While certainfunctions of the system 100 are described herein as being performed byeither a client application 114, the sensor device(s) 102, the systemgateway 104, or by the server system 108, it will be appreciated thatthe location of certain functionality either within the clientapplication 114 or the server system 108 is a design choice. Forexample, it may be technically preferable to initially deploy certaintechnology and functionality within the server system 108, but to latermigrate this technology and functionality to the client application 114,or one or more processors of the sensor device(s) 102, or system gateway104, where there may be sufficient processing capacity.

The server system 108 supports various services and operations that areprovided to the client application 114. Such operations includetransmitting data to, receiving data from, and processing data generatedby the client application 114, the sensor device(s) 102, and the systemgateway 104. In some embodiments, this data includes, message content,device information, geolocation information, persistence conditions,social network information, sensor data, and live event information, asexamples. In other embodiments, other data is used. Data exchangeswithin the system 100 are invoked and controlled through functionsavailable via graphical user interfaces (GUIs) of the client application114.

Turning now specifically to the server system 108, an ApplicationProgram Interface (API) server 110 is coupled to, and provides aprogrammatic interface to, an application server 112. The applicationserver 112 is communicatively coupled to a database server 118, whichfacilitates access to a database 120 that stores data associated withdata generated by the sensor devices 102 and processed by theapplication server 112.

Dealing specifically with the API server 110, this server receives andtransmits data (e.g., sensor data, commands, and payloads) between theclient device 122 and the application server 112. Specifically, the APIserver 110 provides a set of interfaces (e.g., routines and protocols)that can be called or queried by the client application 114 in order toinvoke functionality of the application server 112. The API server 110exposes various functions supported by the application server 112,including account registration, login functionality, the transmission ofdata, via the application server 112, from a particular clientapplication 114 to another client application 114, the sending of sensordata (e.g., images, video, geolocation data, inertial data, temperaturedata, etc.) from a client application 114 to the server application 114,and for possible access by another client application 114, the settingof a collection of data, the retrieval of such collections, theretrieval of data, and the location of devices within a region.

The application server 112 hosts a number of applications andsubsystems, including a server application 114, and an annotation system124. The annotation system 124 is configured to access records within arepository (i.e., the databases 120) and automatically apply annotationsto at least a portion of the records based on corresponding attributesof the records, according to some example embodiments. Further detailsof the annotation system 124 can be found in FIG. 2 below.

The server application 114 implements a number of data processingtechnologies and functions, particularly related to the aggregation andother processing of data (e.g., sensor data generated by the sensordevices 102). As will be described in further detail, the sensor datagenerated by the sensor devices 102 may be aggregated into collectionsassociated with a particular user account. Other processor and memoryintensive processing of data may also be performed server-side by theserver application 114, in view of the hardware requirements for suchprocessing.

The application server 112 is communicatively coupled to a databaseserver 118, which facilitates access to a database 120 in which isstored data associated with sensor data generated by the sensor devices102 and processed by the server application 114.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating components of the annotationsystem 124 that configure the annotation system 124 to performoperations to automatically assign annotations to one or more datarecords within a report, according to some example embodiments.

The annotation system 124 is shown as including a report module 202, alocation module 204, a display module 206, and an annotation module 208,all configured to communicate with each other (e.g., via a bus, sharedmemory, or a switch). Any one or more of these modules may beimplemented using one or more processors 210 (e.g., by configuring suchone or more processors to perform functions described for that module)and hence may include one or more of the processors 210.

Any one or more of the modules described may be implemented usinghardware alone (e.g., one or more of the processors 210 of a machine) ora combination of hardware and software. For example, any moduledescribed of the annotation system 124 may physically include anarrangement of one or more of the processors 210 (e.g., a subset of oramong the one or more processors of the machine) configured to performthe operations described herein for that module. As another example, anymodule of the annotation system 124 may include software, hardware, orboth, that configure an arrangement of one or more processors 210 (e.g.,among the one or more processors of the machine) to perform theoperations described herein for that module. Accordingly, differentmodules of the annotation system 124 may include and configure differentarrangements of such processors 210 or a single arrangement of suchprocessors 210 at different points in time. Moreover, any two or moremodules of the annotation system 124 may be combined into a singlemodule, and the functions described herein for a single module may besubdivided among multiple modules. Furthermore, according to variousexample embodiments, modules described herein as being implementedwithin a single machine, database, or device may be distributed acrossmultiple machines, databases, or devices.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart depicting a method 300 of automatically selectingan annotation to assign to a record within a report, according tocertain example embodiments. Operations of the method 300 may beperformed by the modules described above with respect to FIG. 2 . Asshown in FIG. 3 , the method 300 includes one or more operations 302,304, 306, and 308.

At operation 302, the annotation module 208 receives an input thatdesignates an annotation to a location or driving segment, wherein theannotation comprises a text string. For example, as discussed above,according to certain embodiments, a user of the automated annotationsystem 124 may provide an input that identifies a location or drivingsegment within a map image. Responsive to receiving the input thatidentifies the location or driving segment within the map image, theautomated annotation system 124 may provide one or more GUI configuredto define an annotation based on an input that includes a text string.

According to certain embodiments, a location may be identified based ona set of coordinates, an address, a selection of one or more pointswithin a map image, a text input that specifies a name of the location,as well as a selection (or creation) of a geo-fence that encompasses thelocation. In further embodiments, a user may define a driving segment byproviding an input that specifies one or more locations (i.e., astarting location and a destination location), or by indicating alocation or geographic area that encompasses the driving segment.

At operation 304, the report module 202 identifies a record thatincludes an indication of the location or driving segment within areport. For example, the report may include an ELD report associatedwith a vehicle that comprises a listing of driving segments andlocations of the vehicle over a period of time. At operation 306,responsive to determining that the record includes the indication of thelocation, the annotation module 208 access the annotation thatcorresponds with the location, and at operation 308 applies a textstring of the annotation to the record within the report.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart depicting a method 400 of automatically selectingan annotation to assign to a record within a report, according tocertain example embodiments. Operations of the method 400 may beperformed by the modules described above with respect to FIG. 2 . Asshown in FIG. 4 , the method 400 includes one or more operations 402,404, and 406.

At operation 402, the report module 202 receives an input that includesan identifier. For example, the identifier may identify a vehicle, or aclient device 122, such as the vehicle or client device 122 discussed inthe method 300. In some example embodiments, the display module 206 maycause display of a GUI configured to receive an identifier as aselection, or input provided by a user of the annotation system 124.

At operation 404, the annotation module 208 accesses a report associatedwith the identifier, wherein the report comprises vehicle dataassociated with the vehicle. For example, the report may include an ELDreport associated with a vehicle that comprises a listing of drivingsegments and locations of the vehicle over a period of time.

At operation 406, the display module 206 causes display of apresentation of the report, wherein the presentation of the reportincludes a display of one or more records. Accordingly, annotations maybe applied to the records based on operations of the method 300discussed above, and the locations indicated within the records.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart depicting a method 500 of generating a record fora report, according to certain example embodiments. Operations of themethod 500 may be performed by the modules described above with respectto FIG. 2 . As shown in FIG. 5 , the method 500 includes one or moreoperations 502, 504, 506, and 508.

At operation 502, the location module 204 receives an input that definesa boundary of a geo-fence, wherein the geo-fence encompasses a location.For example, the user of the automated annotation system 124 may provideinputs that define a boundary within a map image, for example byselecting a set of points, or by drawing a closed shape upon the mapimage.

At operation 504, the annotation module 208 designates an annotation toa geo-fence. By doing so, the automated annotation system 124 maygenerate a record of a location or driving segment that occurs withinthe boundary of the geo-fence. For example, responsive to detecting avehicle or device within the boundary of the geo-fence, or detecting adriving segment that occurs within the boundary of the geo-fence, theautomated annotation system 124 may generate a record that includes anidentifier of the vehicle or device, along with additional informationwhich may be collected by the vehicle or device. For example, in someembodiments, responsive to detecting the vehicle or driving segmentwithin the boundary of the geo-fence, the report module 202 may causeone or more sensor devices 102 at the vehicle to generate a data packetthat comprises vehicle information which includes: a date; a time;engine hours; driving time; vehicle miles; driver ID; and location data.

Accordingly, at operation 506, the location module 204 detects a vehicleor client device (i.e., the client device 122) within the boundary ofthe geo-fence. In some embodiments, the location module 204 may receivelocation data from the vehicle or client device responsive to a triggerevent. For example, in some embodiments, a vehicle may be equipped witha client device 122 which may be configured to transmit location data tothe automated annotation system 124 responsive to detecting that anignition of the vehicle has been keyed on or off, or responsive todetecting that the vehicle begins to move. In further embodiments, thelocation module 204 may simply access location data from the vehicle orclient device responsive to detecting the vehicle or client devicewithin the boundary of the geo-fence.

At operation 508, responsive to the location module detecting thevehicle or client device within the boundary of the geo-fence, thereport module 202 generates a record associated with an identifier ofthe vehicle or client device, wherein the record includes the annotationassociated with the geo-fence by the annotation module 208.

In some embodiments, the record may further comprise vehicle or clientdevice attributes and information that includes temporal data, anddriving segment data, wherein the driving segment data includes anindication of a duration of a driving segment, a distance of a drivingsegment, an identification of a driver of the vehicle, and a time of thedriving segment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart depicting a method 600 of designating anannotation to a location, according to certain example embodiments.Operations of the method 600 may be performed by the modules describedabove with respect to FIG. 2 . As shown in FIG. 6 , the method 600includes one or more operations 602, 604, 606, and 608. The method 600may be performed as a precursor to, or subroutine of, one or more of theoperations of the method 500, as depicted in FIG. 5 .

At operation 602, the display module 206 generates and causes display ofa GUI that includes a display of a map image that depicts a geographicregion. In some embodiments, a user of the automated annotation system124 may provide an input that identifies or otherwise selects ageographic region. For example, the GUI 700 depicted in FIG. 7 includesa display of a map image 705 that depicts a geographic region.

At operation 604, the display module 206 receives an input that definesa boundary within the map image displayed within the GUI. For example, auser of the automated annotation system 124 may provide inputs thatselect one or more points within the map image, or an input that drawsthe boundary upon the display of the map image. Responsive to thedisplay module 206 receiving the input that defines the boundary, atoperation 606, the location module 204 generates a geo-fence based onthe boundary.

At operation 608, the annotation module 208 designates an annotation tothe geo-fence. For example, the display module 206 may present one ormore interface elements, such as the interface elements 710, that enablea user of the automated annotation system 124 to input a text string ofan annotation, and to designate the annotation to a location.

FIG. 7 is an interface diagram depicting a GUI 700 generated andpresented by the automated annotation system 124, according to certainexample embodiments, and as discussed above. As seen in FIG. 7 , the GUI700 presented by the automated annotation system 124 may include adisplay of a map image 705, a set of interface elements 710 to designatean annotation to a location, a search window 715, and a report window720, configured to display a report that comprises a plurality ofrecords.

For example, as discussed in the method 600, a user of the automatedannotation system 124 may define a boundary of a geo-fence by providinginputs via the GUI 700, wherein the inputs may include a selection ofpoints within the map image 705. The automated annotation system 124 maygenerate a geo-fence based on the boundary defined based on the userinputs. According to certain example embodiments, the user may provideinputs via the interface elements 710 to define a text string of anannotation, and to designate the annotation to the location encompassedby the boundary of the geo-fence.

As seen in FIG. 7 , the GUI 700 may include a search window 715configured to receive a query term from a user of the automatedannotation system 124. The query term may for example include anidentifier, such as a vehicle identifier or a device identifier, or insome embodiments includes an identification of a location that maycomprise a set of geolocation coordinates, an address, or a geo-fenceidentifier.

According to certain example embodiments, the automated annotationsystem 124 may present a report within the report window 720, based onan input received via the search window 715. For example, a user mayprovide an input that specifies a vehicle identifier of a vehicle.Responsive to receiving the input that specifies the vehicle identifier,the automated annotation system 124 may generate and cause display of areport within the report window 720, wherein the report comprises aplurality of records associated with the vehicle identifier.

According to certain example embodiments, the records, such as therecord 725, may comprise vehicle information that includes a listing oftrips, or driving segments, of the vehicle, wherein the driving segmentcomprises: an identification of a starting point of the driving segmentand a destination of the driving segment; a duration of the trip, adistance of the trip, a start time of the trip, as well as anyannotations which may be designated to the record, as illustrated by thetrip indicator 725 of the record displayed within the report window 720.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating components of a machine 800,according to some example embodiments, able to read instructions from amachine-readable medium (e.g., a machine-readable storage medium) andperform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein.Specifically, FIG. 8 shows a diagrammatic representation of the machine800 in the example form of a computer system, within which instructions810 (e.g., software, a program, an application, an applet, an app, orother executable code) for causing the machine 800 to perform any one ormore of the methodologies discussed herein may be executed. As such, theinstructions 810 may be used to implement modules or componentsdescribed herein. The instructions 810 transform the general,non-programmed machine 800 into a particular machine 800 programmed tocarry out the described and illustrated functions in the mannerdescribed. In alternative embodiments, the machine 800 operates as astandalone device or may be coupled (e.g., networked) to other machines.In a networked deployment, the machine 800 may operate in the capacityof a server machine or a client machine in a server-client networkenvironment, or as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed)network environment. The machine 800 may comprise, but not be limitedto, a server computer, a client computer, a personal computer (PC), atablet computer, a laptop computer, a netbook, a personal digitalassistant (PDA), an entertainment media system, a cellular telephone, asmart phone, a mobile device, a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch),other smart devices, a web appliance, a network router, a networkswitch, a network bridge, or any machine capable of executing theinstructions 810, sequentially or otherwise, that specify actions to betaken by machine 800. Further, while only a single machine 800 isillustrated, the term “machine” shall also be taken to include acollection of machines that individually or jointly execute theinstructions 810 to perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein.

The machine 800 may include processors 804, memory memory/storage 806,and I/O components 818, which may be configured to communicate with eachother such as via a bus 802. The memory/storage 806 may include a memory814, such as a main memory, or other memory storage, and a storage unit816, both accessible to the processors 804 such as via the bus 802. Thestorage unit 816 and memory 814 store the instructions 810 embodying anyone or more of the methodologies or functions described herein. Theinstructions 810 may also reside, completely or partially, within thememory 814, within the storage unit 816, within at least one of theprocessors 804 (e.g., within the processor's cache memory), or anysuitable combination thereof, during execution thereof by the machine800. Accordingly, the memory 814, the storage unit 816, and the memoryof processors 804 are examples of machine-readable media.

The I/O components 818 may include a wide variety of components toreceive input, provide output, produce output, transmit information,exchange information, capture measurements, and so on. The specific I/Ocomponents 818 that are included in a particular machine 800 will dependon the type of machine. For example, portable machines such as mobilephones will likely include a touch input device or other such inputmechanisms, while a headless server machine will likely not include sucha touch input device. It will be appreciated that the I/O components 818may include many other components that are not shown in FIG. 8 . The I/Ocomponents 818 are grouped according to functionality merely forsimplifying the following discussion and the grouping is in no waylimiting. In various example embodiments, the I/O components 818 mayinclude output components 826 and input components 828. The outputcomponents 826 may include visual components (e.g., a display such as aplasma display panel (PDP), a light emitting diode (LED) display, aliquid crystal display (LCD), a projector, or a cathode ray tube (CRT)),acoustic components (e.g., speakers), haptic components (e.g., avibratory motor, resistance mechanisms), other signal generators, and soforth. The input components 828 may include alphanumeric inputcomponents (e.g., a keyboard, a touch screen configured to receivealphanumeric input, a photo-optical keyboard, or other alphanumericinput components), point based input components (e.g., a mouse, atouchpad, a trackball, a joystick, a motion sensor, or other pointinginstrument), tactile input components (e.g., a physical button, a touchscreen that provides location and/or force of touches or touch gestures,or other tactile input components), audio input components (e.g., amicrophone), and the like.

In further example embodiments, the I/O components 818 may includebiometric components 830, motion components 834, environmentalenvironment components 836, or position components 838 among a widearray of other components. For example, the biometric components 830 mayinclude components to detect expressions (e.g., hand expressions, facialexpressions, vocal expressions, body gestures, or eye tracking), measurebiosignals (e.g., blood pressure, heart rate, body temperature,perspiration, or brain waves), identify a person (e.g., voiceidentification, retinal identification, facial identification,fingerprint identification, or electroencephalogram basedidentification), and the like. The motion components 834 may includeacceleration sensor components (e.g., accelerometer), gravitation sensorcomponents, rotation sensor components (e.g., gyroscope), and so forth.The environment components 836 may include, for example, illuminationsensor components (e.g., photometer), temperature sensor components(e.g., one or more thermometer that detect ambient temperature),humidity sensor components, pressure sensor components (e.g.,barometer), acoustic sensor components (e.g., one or more microphonesthat detect background noise), proximity sensor components (e.g.,infrared sensors that detect nearby objects), gas sensors (e.g., gasdetection sensors to detection concentrations of hazardous gases forsafety or to measure pollutants in the atmosphere), or other componentsthat may provide indications, measurements, or signals corresponding toa surrounding physical environment. The position components 838 mayinclude location sensor components (e.g., a Global Position system (GPS)receiver component), altitude sensor components (e.g., altimeters orbarometers that detect air pressure from which altitude may be derived),orientation sensor components (e.g., magnetometers), and the like.

Communication may be implemented using a wide variety of technologies.The I/O components 818 may include communication components 840 operableto couple the machine 800 to a network 832 or devices 820 via coupling822 and coupling 824 respectively. For example, the communicationcomponents 840 may include a network interface component or othersuitable device to interface with the network 832. In further examples,communication components 840 may include wired communication components,wireless communication components, cellular communication components,Near Field Communication (NFC) components, Bluetooth® components (e.g.,Bluetooth® Low Energy), Wi-Fi® components, and other communicationcomponents to provide communication via other modalities. The devices820 may be another machine or any of a wide variety of peripheraldevices (e.g., a peripheral device coupled via a Universal Serial Bus(USB)).

Moreover, the communication components 840 may detect identifiers orinclude components operable to detect identifiers. For example, thecommunication components 840 may include Radio Frequency Identification(RFID) tag reader components. NFC smart tag detection components,optical reader components (e.g., an optical sensor to detectone-dimensional bar codes such as Universal Product Code (UPC) bar code,multi-dimensional bar codes such as Quick Response (QR) code. Azteccode, Data Matrix, Dataglyph, MaxiCode, PDF417, Ultra Code, UCC RSS-2Dbar code, and other optical codes), or acoustic detection components(e.g., microphones to identify tagged audio signals). In addition, avariety of information may be derived via the communication components840, such as, location via Internet Protocol (IP) geo-location, locationvia Wi-Fi® signal triangulation, location via detecting a NFC beaconsignal that may indicate a particular location, and so forth.

GLOSSARY

“CARRIER SIGNAL” in this context refers to any intangible medium that iscapable of storing, encoding, or carrying instructions for execution bythe machine, and includes digital or analog communications signals orother intangible medium to facilitate communication of suchinstructions. Instructions may be transmitted or received over thenetwork using a transmission medium via a network interface device andusing any one of a number of well-known transfer protocols.

“CLIENT DEVICE” in this context refers to any machine that interfaces toa communications network to obtain resources from one or more serversystems or other client devices. A client device may be, but is notlimited to, a mobile phone, desktop computer, laptop, portable digitalassistants (PDAs), smart phones, tablets, ultra books, netbooks,laptops, multi-processor systems, microprocessor-based or programmableconsumer electronics, game consoles, set-top boxes, or any othercommunication device that a user may use to access a network.

“COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK” in this context refers to one or more portionsof a network that may be an ad hoc network, an intranet, an extranet, avirtual private network (VPN), a local area network (LAN), a wirelessLAN (WLAN), a wide area network (WAN), a wireless WAN (WWAN), ametropolitan area network (MAN), the Internet, a portion of theInternet, a portion of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), aplain old telephone service (POTS) network, a cellular telephonenetwork, a wireless network, a Wi-Fi® network, another type of network,or a combination of two or more such networks. For example, a network ora portion of a network may include a wireless or cellular network andthe coupling may be a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) connection, aGlobal System for Mobile communications (GSM) connection, or other typeof cellular or wireless coupling. In this example, the coupling mayimplement any of a variety of types of data transfer technology, such asSingle Carrier Radio Transmission Technology (1×RTT), Evolution-DataOptimized (EVDO) technology, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)technology, Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) technology,third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) including 3G, fourthgeneration wireless (4G) networks, Universal Mobile TelecommunicationsSystem (UMTS), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), WorldwideInteroperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), Long Term Evolution (LTE)standard, others defined by various standard setting organizations,other long range protocols, or other data transfer technology.

“MACHINE-READABLE MEDIUM” in this context refers to a component, deviceor other tangible media able to store instructions and data temporarilyor permanently and may include, but is not be limited to, random-accessmemory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), buffer memory, flash memory,optical media, magnetic media, cache memory, other types of storage(e.g., Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM)) and/or anysuitable combination thereof. The term “machine-readable medium” shouldbe taken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., acentralized or distributed database, or associated caches and servers)able to store instructions. The term “machine-readable medium” shallalso be taken to include any medium, or combination of multiple media,that is capable of storing instructions (e.g., code) for execution by amachine, such that the instructions, when executed by one or moreprocessors of the machine, cause the machine to perform any one or moreof the methodologies described herein. Accordingly, a “machine-readablemedium” refers to a single storage apparatus or device, as well as“cloud-based” storage systems or storage networks that include multiplestorage apparatus or devices. The term “machine-readable medium”excludes signals per se.

“COMPONENT” in this context refers to a device, physical entity or logichaving boundaries defined by function or subroutine calls, branchpoints, application program interfaces (APIs), or other technologiesthat provide for the partitioning or modularization of particularprocessing or control functions. Components may be combined via theirinterfaces with other components to carry out a machine process. Acomponent may be a packaged functional hardware unit designed for usewith other components and a part of a program that usually performs aparticular function of related functions. Components may constituteeither software components (e.g., code embodied on a machine-readablemedium) or hardware components. A “hardware component” is a tangibleunit capable of performing certain operations and may be configured orarranged in a certain physical manner. In various example embodiments,one or more computer systems (e.g., a standalone computer system, aclient computer system, or a server computer system) or one or morehardware components of a computer system (e.g., a processor or a groupof processors) may be configured by software (e.g., an application orapplication portion) as a hardware component that operates to performcertain operations as described herein. A hardware component may also beimplemented mechanically, electronically, or any suitable combinationthereof. For example, a hardware component may include dedicatedcircuitry or logic that is permanently configured to perform certainoperations. A hardware component may be a special-purpose processor,such as a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or an ApplicationSpecific Integrated Circuit (ASIC). A hardware component may alsoinclude programmable logic or circuitry that is temporarily configuredby software to perform certain operations. For example, a hardwarecomponent may include software executed by a general-purpose processoror other programmable processor. Once configured by such software,hardware components become specific machines (or specific components ofa machine) uniquely tailored to perform the configured functions and areno longer general-purpose processors. It will be appreciated that thedecision to implement a hardware component mechanically, in dedicatedand permanently configured circuitry, or in temporarily configuredcircuitry (e.g., configured by software) may be driven by cost and timeconsiderations. Accordingly, the phrase “hardware component” (or“hardware-implemented component”) should be understood to encompass atangible entity, be that an entity that is physically constructed,permanently configured (e.g., hardwired), or temporarily configured(e.g., programmed) to operate in a certain manner or to perform certainoperations described herein. Considering embodiments in which hardwarecomponents are temporarily configured (e.g., programmed), each of thehardware components need not be configured or instantiated at any oneinstance in time. For example, where a hardware component comprises ageneral-purpose processor configured by software to become aspecial-purpose processor, the general-purpose processor may beconfigured as respectively different special-purpose processors (e.g.,comprising different hardware components) at different times. Softwareaccordingly configures a particular processor or processors, forexample, to constitute a particular hardware component at one instanceof time and to constitute a different hardware component at a differentinstance of time. Hardware components can provide information to, andreceive information from, other hardware components. Accordingly, thedescribed hardware components may be regarded as being communicativelycoupled. Where multiple hardware components exist contemporaneously,communications may be achieved through signal transmission (e.g., overappropriate circuits and buses) between or among two or more of thehardware components. In embodiments in which multiple hardwarecomponents are configured or instantiated at different times,communications between such hardware components may be achieved, forexample, through the storage and retrieval of information in memorystructures to which the multiple hardware components have access. Forexample, one hardware component may perform an operation and store theoutput of that operation in a memory device to which it iscommunicatively coupled. A further hardware component may then, at alater time, access the memory device to retrieve and process the storedoutput. Hardware components may also initiate communications with inputor output devices, and can operate on a resource (e.g., a collection ofinformation). The various operations of example methods described hereinmay be performed, at least partially, by one or more processors that aretemporarily configured (e.g., by software) or permanently configured toperform the relevant operations. Whether temporarily or permanentlyconfigured, such processors may constitute processor-implementedcomponents that operate to perform one or more operations or functionsdescribed herein. As used herein, “processor-implemented component”refers to a hardware component implemented using one or more processors.Similarly, the methods described herein may be at least partiallyprocessor-implemented, with a particular processor or processors beingan example of hardware. For example, at least some of the operations ofa method may be performed by one or more processors orprocessor-implemented components. Moreover, the one or more processorsmay also operate to support performance of the relevant operations in a“cloud computing” environment or as a “software as a service” (SaaS).For example, at least some of the operations may be performed by a groupof computers (as examples of machines including processors), with theseoperations being accessible via a network (e.g., the Internet) and viaone or more appropriate interfaces (e.g., an Application ProgramInterface (API)). The performance of certain of the operations may bedistributed among the processors, not only residing within a singlemachine, but deployed across a number of machines. In some exampleembodiments, the processors or processor-implemented components may belocated in a single geographic location (e.g., within a homeenvironment, an office environment, or a server farm). In other exampleembodiments, the processors or processor-implemented components may bedistributed across a number of geographic locations.

“PROCESSOR” in this context refers to any circuit or virtual circuit (aphysical circuit emulated by logic executing on an actual processor)that manipulates data values according to control signals (e.g.,“commands”. “op codes”. “machine code”, etc.) and which producescorresponding output signals that are applied to operate a machine. Aprocessor may, for example, be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), aReduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC) processor, a ComplexInstruction Set Computing (CISC) processor, a Graphics Processing Unit(GPU), a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application SpecificIntegrated Circuit (ASIC), a Radio-Frequency Integrated Circuit (RFIC)or any combination thereof. A processor may further be a multi-coreprocessor having two or more independent processors (sometimes referredto as “cores”) that may execute instructions contemporaneously.

“TIMESTAMP” in this context refers to a sequence of characters orencoded information identifying when a certain event occurred, forexample giving date and time of day, sometimes accurate to a smallfraction of a second.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: causing display of a mapimage at a client device; receiving, at the client device, an input thatdefines a boundary that comprises a closed shape that encompasses alocation depicted within the map image; generating a geo-fence thatencompasses the location based on the input; presenting, at the clientdevice, an interface to receive an annotation that comprises a textstring to be applied to the location in response to the input thatcreates the boundary; designating, within a database, the annotationreceived via the interface to the location; detecting a segment of atrip associated with a vehicle within the boundary of the geo-fence, thevehicle corresponding with a vehicle identifier, and the trip comprisinga set of trip attributes; generating a record of the location among aplurality of records within a report associated with the vehicle basedon the detecting the vehicle associated with the client device withinthe boundary of the geo-fence, the record of the location comprises theset of trip attributes of the segment of the trip; accessing the reportassociated with the vehicle identified by the vehicle identifier;identifying the record from among the plurality of records based on thelocation; selecting the annotation from within the database based on therecord that identifies the location; and applying a display of the textstring of the annotation to a display of the driving segment associatedwith the record at the client device.
 2. The method of claim 1, whereinthe record is associated with an identifier, and the method comprises:receiving an input that provides a selection of the identifier; andcausing display of a presentation of the report that includes a displayof the record of the location, the display of the record of the locationincluding the text string.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the displayof the record within the presentation of the report further comprisesrecord attributes that include a distance value and a temporal value. 4.The method of claim 2, wherein the identifier includes a vehicleidentifier.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving the inputthat defines the boundary that encompasses the location includes:receiving selections of a set of points within the map image; generatingthe boundary based on the set of points; and designating the annotationto the location.
 6. A system comprising: at least one sensor device togenerate sensor data comprising a plurality of data streams; a memory;and at least one hardware processor to perform operations comprising:causing display of a map image at a client device; receiving, at theclient device, an input that defines a boundary that comprises a closedshape that encompasses a location depicted within the map image;generating a geo-fence that encompasses the location based on the input;presenting, at the client device, an interface to receive an annotationthat comprises a text string to be applied to the location in responseto the input that creates the boundary; designating, within a database,the annotation received via the interface to the location; detecting asegment of a trip associated with a vehicle within the boundary of thegeo-fence, the vehicle corresponding with a vehicle identifier, and thetrip comprising a set of trip attributes; generating a record of thelocation among a plurality of records within a report associated withthe vehicle based on the detecting the vehicle associated with theclient device within the boundary of the geo-fence, the record of thelocation comprises the set of trip attributes of the segment of thetrip; accessing the report associated with the vehicle identified by thevehicle identifier; identifying the record from among the plurality ofrecords based on the location; selecting the annotation from within thedatabase based on the record that identifies the location; and applyinga display of the text string of the annotation to a display of thedriving segment associated with the record at the client device.
 7. Thesystem of claim 6, wherein the record is associated with an identifier,and the operations further comprise: receiving an input that provides aselection of the identifier; and causing display of a presentation ofthe report that includes a display of the record of the location, thedisplay of the record of the location including the text string.
 8. Thesystem of claim 7, wherein the display of the record within thepresentation of the report further comprises record attributes thatinclude a distance value and a temporal value.
 9. The system of claim 7,wherein the identifier includes a vehicle identifier.
 10. The system ofclaim 6, wherein the receiving the input that defines the boundary thatencompasses the location includes: receiving selections of a set ofpoints within the map image; generating the boundary based on the set ofpoints; and designating the annotation to the location.
 11. Anon-transitory machine-readable storage medium comprising instructionsthat, when executed by one or more processors of a machine, cause themachine to perform operations comprising: causing display of a map imageat a client device; receiving, at the client device, an input thatdefines a boundary that comprises a closed shape that encompasses alocation depicted within the map image; generating a geo-fence thatencompasses the location based on the input; presenting, at the clientdevice, an interface to receive an annotation that comprises a textstring to be applied to the location in response to the input thatcreates the boundary; designating, within a database, the annotationreceived via the interface to the location; detecting a segment of atrip associated with a vehicle within the boundary of the geo-fence, thevehicle corresponding with a vehicle identifier, and the trip comprisinga set of trip attributes; generating a record of the location among aplurality of records within a report associated with the vehicle basedon the detecting the vehicle associated with the client device withinthe boundary of the geo-fence, the record of the location comprises theset of trip attributes of the segment of the trip; accessing the reportassociated with the vehicle identified by the vehicle identifier;identifying the record from among the plurality of records based on thelocation; selecting the annotation from within the database based on therecord that identifies the location; and applying a display of the textstring of the annotation to a display of the driving segment associatedwith the record at the client device.
 12. The non-transitorymachine-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the record isassociated with an identifier, and the operations further comprise:receiving an input that provides a selection of the identifier; andcausing display of a presentation of the report that includes a displayof the record of the location, the display of the record of the locationincluding the text string.
 13. The non-transitory machine-readablestorage medium of claim 12, wherein the display of the record within thepresentation of the report further comprises record attributes thatinclude a distance value and a temporal value.
 14. The non-transitorymachine-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the identifierincludes a vehicle identifier.